Cursive · sōsho 草書 · VC3B
Cursive or sōsho (草書) styles are the most simplified styles and Master Takase's favorite. While very beautiful, these styles are often difficult to read even by specialists.
善かれ悪しかれ
yokare ashikare
For Better Or For Worse
Be it good or bad, either way.
by Master Eri Takase
Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Eri Takase received the rank of Shihan, master, from two calligraphy societies, the Bokuteki-kai and Bunka-shodō, and won best-of-category awards in all-Japan national competitions. She has created calligraphy for people around the world for more than thirty years, and with your order she will be creating calligraphy for you.
In a ritual as old as calligraphy itself, Master Takase prepares the ink, meditatively rubbing the ink stick against the stone until it reaches the perfect consistency for the paper. Then, properly loading the brush with ink, she brushes your scroll. And only when the scroll is just right and meets her approval, she signs it and affixes her seal, completing your original scroll.
12 1/4" × 43" (31 × 109 cm) Japanese Scrolls
The scrolls have woven damask borders and special layered Japanese paper (washi), designed to last generations by a scroll maker in Gifu, Japan, with whom we have worked for over two decades.
Gift-Ready
Your scroll arrives boxed, with a printed insert describing the words in detail.
Sending it as a gift? Add your message at checkout and we will include it with the insert.
Ships in 1-3 days from Washington State
Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days.
Your scroll ships from Master Takase's studio in Washington State. Shipping is calculated at checkout. We ship worldwide.
30-day money-back guarantee
Every order is covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. If your scroll arrives damaged, or we made an error, we replace it or refund you in full, including shipping.
Explanation
善かれ悪しかれ says whichever way it falls, for good or for ill, whatever the outcome. As the Daijisen's example has it, good or bad, all one can do is wait for the result. The English for better or worse means the same; in the wedding vow of the Book of Common Prayer, for better for worse sits inside a promise, and the promise is in the verbs around it. Said of a husband and wife, it stands beside the vow and is not the vow itself.
The phrase joins two old imperatives, よかれ and あしかれ, let it be good, let it be bad, and its earliest witness found is a letter of Hōnen (1133–1212), in a fascicle of the collection of his words that Shinran signed as written out in 1256, where it tells a follower to leave the good and bad of other people alone.
Learn More About These Words
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 善かれ悪しかれ.
